Chapter 396 Two Years Later

Everything in Europe is evolving according to the established script. Those who should fight fight, and those who should trade trade. After two years, everything seems to be different again.

First, the Suez Canal was officially opened. This canal of hundreds of kilometers can pass all merchant ships and warships, and tricks such as sailing on dry land are no longer necessary. And it happened to be opened on Mircea’s birthday, which is also a gift from the company to the emperor.

With this canal, the Red Sea trade can be rapidly improved, and the company can collect tolls here, so that some costs can be earned back.

As for the Mamluk, his feelings were not taken into account before, so Rome and Egypt renegotiated the treaty. The canal was controlled by Rome, but it was guaranteed that the Mamluk could cross the river in major events. Holding the new covenant, the envoy left happily.

The ships of Roman merchants can also go to the East for trade, but in order to protect the interests of the East India Company, the emperor signed a decree: trade in the Indian region can only be conducted by the East India Company, and Indian goods can only be transported by the company's merchant ships.

This situation directly led to the influx of Roman merchant ships into the Red Sea. Since they could not go to India, they could go to the farther east. They could always operate other places. Moreover, their merchant ships were registered in the Trade Hall, which was completely legal.

Moreover, the number of immigrants after the opening of the canal exceeded 1,500 people per year. It seems that the Eastern trade has made many people take risks. In addition, the conditions are really good, so they moved their families. Ceylon, Formosa and India are the first choices. The land here is fertile, and you can become a landlord by honestly farming for a few years.

During Mircea's reign, Rome achieved one achievement after another. Such a prosperous empire is enough for him to add a chapter to the history books. Mircea, the Grand Duke of Wallachia, saved the precarious Roman Empire from the water and fire, and believed that his reputation would definitely be good.

In addition, Hungary held a ceremony to establish the crown prince. The plan to directly annex Hungary failed, and instead adopted marriage to maintain the alliance. After returning from Hungary, Peter also told Mircea that he needed to find a suitable woman from the family for marriage. Just like that, Margaret, who was two years younger than the Hungarian crown prince, was finally chosen. Peter should call her his niece. This was the daughter of his cousin Basarab.

Peter returned to the Senate. This time he had more power. The emperor directly pushed some ordinary things to Peter, and he just had to sign. In this ever-changing era, he was a little behind. In order to keep the empire going for a long time, Mircea was paving the way for Peter, hoping to exercise his governing ability, so that he would have no worries.

The first thing Peter did when he returned to the center was to solve the rebellion of the Bytakshi sect. The local government had ordered a strict investigation, but there were still some people hiding in the empire, ready to cause unrest at any time.

Peter acted decisively and used a large sum of money to lure people to report each other. As long as it was true, one person could be exchanged for 10 lei. At the same time, the joint responsibility system was implemented. If one person hid the whole family, they would be exiled and executed. If they reported, the punishment would be reduced. In this extraordinary period, some extraordinary means had to be used.

The number of people in the sect has indeed decreased over the past year, but there have also been false and wrongful convictions. In order to get rewards, local people will falsely accuse others. Some people can be found innocent and released, while others become the souls of the sword. Peter also keeps spreading that all this is caused by the Baitakshi sect, and if he disappears, there will be no so many things.

The local people have always been at odds with the sect, and now the hatred is directly rising under such propaganda. The activities of the sect in the local area are more difficult, and everyone wants to get rid of it as soon as possible.

The new Sultan Shah Rukh of the Timurid Empire has signed a contract with the Black Sheep Dynasty and the Zhalayir Dynasty, and signed a treaty of friendship and mutual assistance with Rome, and the northern region has basically returned to peace. The two emerging countries did not have to confront Rome, so they signed the agreement one after another and it was gone. The long-distance trade route was reopened, and taxes increased a little.

The influence of the Roman Empire on the Holy Roman Empire has also gradually increased. The convening of the Augsburg Imperial Parliament is the most dangerous time for the family. If it does not perform well, the hard-won position of the Elector of Brandenburg will be taken back.

Fortunately, the distribution of seats in the parliament gave him an opportunity. Of the 340 members, 110 were firmly opposed to Vlad, and 105 supported Vlad after activities, most of which were cities under the influence of the Hanseatic League.

The Hanseatic League also wanted to continue to expand its business in Rome, so it supported Vlad, who also belonged to the Bartland family. And Bernhard also used his family's influence to persuade some people, but the remaining 125 members decided the final ownership.

Most of the members here are counts, barons, and lords. They all have a common characteristic: they are poor, so gold coins have become the best solution.

It was Peter who helped and used the bank to support Vlad with nearly 600,000 florins, which was enough to bribe these people. Even Count Soren, who firmly supported the abolition of the Elector at the beginning, decided to abstain. The reason is nothing else, that is, to support the other party to become the Elector.

The Elector of Saxony has no children due to his poor health, and he has been seriously ill for the past few years and is about to pass away. According to the imperial law, only the emperor can appoint unowned land, so as long as Count Soren votes against or abstains, he will persuade Jobst to appoint you as the Elector of Saxony.

The other party was obviously tempted by such conditions and agreed. Coupled with the generous bribe, it was already a done deal.

Vlad was attacked by Albrecht in the parliament, who believed that he should not be here and it was an insult to the empire.

"In my opinion, a country should be tolerant. If an arrogant person with a ridiculous title attacks another person here, he should be an enemy of God."

This made Albrecht angry. Isn't this talking about himself? Father Rudolf used the small privilege document as a blueprint and carefully "found" the big privilege document. The Duke of Austria became the Archduke of Austria, and the emperor had to condescend to Vienna for the coronation. This was a blatant contempt for the emperor. If this was really done, the emperor would be the same as the Zhou emperor.

"You have the guts to name it"

The Archduke of Austria was forced into a corner, but Vlad continued to poke his lungs, even digging up the fact that John killed his uncle hundreds of years ago. He also mocked them for being misers, saying that if they agreed to the requirements given by their father, there would be no such thing.

The Archduke of Austria suffered the most. In the final vote, those who were unhappy with the Habsburgs voted against it, Wenzel's supporters voted against it, and those who were influenced by the Hanseatic League voted against it. The resolution was rejected by a huge margin of 120 to 220. Brandenburg was saved.